The blog of the radio announcer for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Midwest League affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers.

Results tagged ‘ Foxes ’

Fifty years ago, the Foxes joined the Midwest League. As part of 50 Years in 50 Days, Rattler Radio is counting down to April 5 with a look back at each season of Appleton Professional Baseball team since 1962 (with a lot of help from MWLGuide.com and baseball-reference.com). The countdown to Opening Day, 2012 has reached 47.

47 Years Ago:
The Fox Cities Foxes tried to defend their 1964 Midwest League Pennant.

Future Major League Players:
Pitcher Paul Gilliford (0-0, 0.00ERA) Pitched in six games all in relief
Outfielder Curt Motton hit .275 with six home runs in 44 games

Paul Gilliford, a member of the 1965 Foxes

Curt Motton, a member of the 1965 Foxes, on his 1969 Topps card

Motton was the subject of this Flashback Friday (Ed.: I wonder where they got that title?I’ll just borrow the Motton card from them) on a Baltimore sports website. It’s about his pinch-hit, game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the 11th inning of Game Two of the 1969 ALCS against the Twins for a 1-0 Orioles win.

Ties? Stat:MWLGuide.com notes that the Foxes played a pair of tie games in 1965. One with Quincy and the other with Waterloo.

Different Times Stat: Henry Pawlowicz was 18 when he racked up 150 innings pitched during the 1965 season. That wasn’t all for him either. He also pitched 27 innings in Stockton, Baltimore’s California League affiliate, for a total of 177 innings. He had tossed 43 innings for a Giants affiliate in the Pioneer League in 1964.

Mr. Perfect Stat: Duane Janne was 7-0 in 27 relief appearances for the Foxes. He did lose that season. Janne went 6-1 in Stockton.

1965 MWL Postseason:
There was no postseason. The Burlington Bees, the affiliate of the Kansas City Athletics, won both halves to claim the pennant. They were 40-20 in the first half and 42-20 in the second half.

MWL News for 1965:
There was no All-Star Game in 1965.
Cedar Rapids changed their name from Red Raiders to Cardinals (3rd year in a row for a name change)
Quincy changed their name from Gems to Cubs (3rd year in a row for a name change)

MWL Alum of Note from 1965:

A member of the 1965 Burlington Bees

Sal Bando played for the Burlington Bees in 1965. He was drafted by the Athletics in the 5th round of the June, 1965 draft out of Arizona State University. He would play 60 games and hit six homers for the Bees after signing his contract.

Bando made his MLB debut with Kansas City in 1966 and went on to become the third baseman for the Oakland A’s dynasty of the early 1970’s. He was a 4-time All-Star and finished second (1971), fourth (1973), and third (1974) in AL MVP voting while in Oakland in Then, he was the first big name free agent signed by the Milwaukee Brewers. Bando was part of the 1981 Brewers that made the playoffs.

Bando worked in the Brewers front office from 1982-1999. First, he was an assistant to Harry Dalton. Then he was the General Manager of the Brewers from 1992-1999.

Bonus Foxes Alumn of Note:

Moe Hill tips his cap at Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids in 2010. (From WAOW.com)

The story of Elmore ‘Moe’ Hill is one with which you should be familiar. Hill played for the Foxes at the age of 18 in 1965. He climbed through the Baltimore organization, but missed the 1969 season with an illness. He would sign with the Twins for 1970 and Minnesota sent him to the MWL to play for Wisconsin Rapids for part of the 1971 season. Hill would start the 1972 season in Wisconsin Rapids and he played there – and only there – through the 1978 season when he was 31.

It’s not that Hill was bad. No. He was outstanding. He won a triple crown in the league in 1974. Baseball America named him the greatest Midwest League player in 1999. He is very popular with baseball fans in Wisconsin Rapids. But, he was held back in the Midwest League. Why?

The numbers Hill put up in Wisconsin Rapids are nothing less than staggering. Over 862 games spanning eight seasons, he hit .283 with 194 home runs and 669 RBIs. From 1974-77, he led the Midwest League in homers, and in three of those campaigns, he also led the circuit in RBIs. In 1974, he batted a career-best .339 to go with 32 home runs and 113 RBIs, becoming the first player in Midwest League history to win the Triple Crown.

The obvious question, of course, is why didn’t Hill receive a promotion? Why, in the prime of his career, was he allowed to stagnate at a relatively low level? What could the Twins have been thinking?

Hill has a few thoughts.

“It’s sad to say, but I think that being a black man in baseball played a big part,” said Hill, who had broken the color line by becoming the first black player in the North Carolina American Legion. “That’s not to say that there weren’t white players who were treated unfairly, just that I think it may have been easier for the Twins to ignore me because I was black.

“But, regardless of race, the guys who had gotten big bonuses when they signed were gonna move up and a lot of the other guys weren’t. That’s just the way it was.”

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Fifty years ago, the Foxes joined the Midwest League. As part of 50 Years in 50 Days, Rattler Radio is counting down to April 5 with a look back at each season of Appleton Professional Baseball team since 1962 (with a lot of help from MWLGuide.com and baseball-reference.com). The countdown to Opening Day, 2012 has reached 48.

48 Years Ago:
The 1964 Foxes are making a play for their first Midwest League title.

The cover of the 1964 Foxes program was very similar to the cover of the 1963 program.

A page from the 1964 program with the front office staff and the Mayor of Appleton.

Who IS That Guy Stat: Steve Caria had 195 strikeouts in 154 innings pitches as an 18-year-old. He also walked 105 batters and hit a home run in 52 at bats for the Foxes that year. I wonder if the youngster who went 9-7 with a 3.16ERA for the Foxes in 1964 is the same Steve Caria who has been an insurance agent in San Mateo, California since 1979.

Power SURGE Stat: The Foxes hit only 37 home runs in 120 games during the 1963 season. They hit 89 in 124 games in 1964.

Power ARM Stat: Seven members of the Foxes pitching staff struck out 100 opposing batters. They struck out a total of 1,061 in 1,042 innings. In descending order the magnificent seven to reach 100 or more strikeouts that season were:

MWL POSTSEASON:
The Foxes beat Clinton 8-5 in a one game playoff at Riverview Stadium for the Midwest League title on September 1, 1964. This was the first MWL Pennant for Appleton Professional Baseball. The write up on that game may be found at this Flashback Friday.

1964 Midwest League Champion Foxes

Surprise MWL Link:You will need to click this link to see which familiar face – to Brewers fans – led the Midwest League in stolen bases during the 1964 season. Let’s just say that he could give an instructional video on stealing bases since he stole 53 bases in 58 attempts for Dubuque that season.

MWL ALUM OF NOTE FROM 1964:

1968 Topps card of Rick Reichardt

Rick Reichardt is a Stevens Point native. He was a football and baseball star at the University of Wisconsin. Reichardt played for the Badgers in the 1963 Rose Bowl and led the Big Ten in batting twice.

It is said that the bidding war by major league teams for Reichardt’s services was the reason for the start of the draft in 1965. Reichardt signed for $200,000 with the Angels organization and played just 34 games in the Midwest League for Quad Cities. He hit two homers, drove in 18 runs, and stole eight bases in those 34 games. Then, he played 23 games for Hawaii in the PCL. Oh, and he made his major league debut with the Angels on September 1, 1964. Reichardt hit the first home run in Anaheim Stadium and played for the Angels, White Sox, Royals, and Senators over 11 seasons in the big leagues.

Reichardt’s bullpen page at baseball-reference notes that he needed to have a kidney removed very early in his career. It also notes that he has recently worked with an old friend of the Foxes, Roland Hemond, in the Arizona Diamondbacks front office.

1964 MWL ALUM HONORABLE MENTION:

Rene Lachemann, Brewers manager

Rene Lachemann played for the Burlington Bees as a 19-year-old in the Kansas City Athletics organization. He played 99 games for the Bees and was the MWL leader in homers with 24 and finished fourth in the league in RBI with 82.

Lachemann went on to become a major league manager three times. He was the head man of the Seattle Mariners from 1981-1983. He was the first manager in Florida Marlins history and was there from 1993-1996. Lachemann was the manager of the Milwaukee Brewers in 1984. That was between Harvey Kuenn and the return of George Bamberger.

BONUS FOXES NOTE: This old Flashback Friday recounts a game at Goodland Field from August 4, 1964. Sparky Lyle made his Foxes debut against Reichardt & the Quad Cities Angels in front of a crowd of 7,118.

MWL NEWS OF NOTE: Quincy switched their nickname from the Jets to the Gems.

The first Midwest League All-Star Game since the Foxes joined the MWL was played. The game was held on June 28 in Davenport, Iowa. The South won 6-3 by scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth inning to erase a 3-2 deficit.

According to the boxscore at MWLGuide.com (linked above), the Foxes were represented on the North squad by Billy DeMars (manager), John Matias (1B), Dave May (LF), Ed Hawkins (P), Steve Huntz (PH), Steve Caria (P), Tim Sommer (P), and Fred Rico (P). Only Sommer did not make an appearance in the All-Star Game.

Sommer did write a book about his in the minor league experiences. It is called Beating About the Bushes. He’s got a few stories about 1964 in there.

Like this:

Fifty years ago, the Foxes joined the Midwest League. As part of 50 Years in 50 Days, Rattler Radio is counting down to April 5 with a look back at each season of Appleton Professional Baseball team since 1962. The countdown to Opening Day, 2012 has reached 49.

Hey, You Look Familiar Stat:Arne Thorsland was an Orioles bonus baby who played with the Foxes during the 1960 season. He returned to start two games for the Foxes in 1963. He went 0-2 and allowed eight earned runs over eight innings.

No…Seriously Stat: In 120 Midwest League games, the Foxes hit a total of 37 home runs. Theodore Richardson accounted for 27% of his team’s homers in 1963.

MWL POSTSEASON:
There was no MWL postseason in 1963. The Clinton C-Sox won both halves (1st half: 44-18; 2nd half: 39-23) to claim the championship.

MWL ALUM OF NOTE FROM 1963:

Paul Lindblad had a great season for the Burlington Bees in 1963. This is his 1974 Topps baseball card

Paul Lindblad was a member of the Burlington Bees in 1963 and went 10-2 with a 1.58ERA in 14 starts. Lindblad spent 14 seasons in the big leagues and appeared in 655 games (32 starts) with the Athletics, Senators, Rangers, & Yankees. He pitched in the World Series with Oakland in 1973 and New York in 1978. Lindblad was the winning pitcher for the A’s in Game Three of the 1973 World Series at Shea Stadium. Oakland beat the Mets 3-2 in 11 innings. Lindblad pitched two scoreless innings despite allowing three hits and a walk.

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The countdown to Opening Day, 2012 has reached 50. Fifty years ago, the Foxes joined the Midwest League. To countdown to April 5, Rattler Radio will look back at each season of Appleton Professional Baseball team since 1962. This series of posts would not be possible without Joel Dinda’s Midwest League Guide or baseball-reference.com.

50 Years Ago: The 1962 Foxes began their first season in the Midwest League. Fox Cities had been a member of the Three-I League when they restarted the franchise in 1958. But, the Three-I folded after the 1961 season. The Foxes moved to the Midwest League along with fellow Three-I émigrés Burlington and Cedar Rapids.

MWL-POSTSEASON:
Dubuque beat Waterloo three games to one in a best-of-five championship series.

MWL ALUM OF NOTE FROM 1962:Denny McClain was an 18-year-old pitcher and appeared in 16 games for Clinton in 1962. He went 4-7 with 93 strikeouts in 91 innings pitched. McClain would make his MLB debut with the Detroit Tigers in 1963. In 1968, he won 31 games for the Tigers and won the AL Cy Young Award and the AL-MVP. In 1969, he won 24 games and won the AL Cy Young Award again.

Perhaps Denny picked up playing the organ in Clinton. This was the first of TWO albums by McClain.

MWL NEWS OF NOTE:Keokuk folded in August. They finished the season as the Midwest Dodgers and played the remainder of their home games in Dubuque.

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This was a real promotional item for the Appleton Foxes in the late 1960s. I was alerted to the fact that this item is up for bid on ebay. It was used to promote Accurate Business Controls, Inc. and the Appleton Foxes. BUY IT NOW for $6.49 + $1.49 shipping…well, maybe not….well….no. Definitely…not…Unless they throw in a carton of Marlboro with a Foxes logo on it. You just KNOW that there was something like that out there. It was the 60’s….MAN!

I doubt that the Timber Rattlers would be able to do something like this now. Unless, the matches were stated to be used for for….tailgate grills or fireplaces or….No. The Timber Rattlers would not be able to do something like this.

Something that I have been kicking around for a few seasons is working on a way to collect and display the history of baseball in Appleton. We have a few things, but I am guessing that the really neat things – like the matchbook above – are out there in the basements and storage units of Northeastern Wisconsin.

Drop a note in the comments or send an email to rattlerradio@timberrattlers.com if you know of any.

Like this:

This would be the final original Paul Birling cover. (The 1991 cover would be reused for the 1994 season). It was also the final cover to feature the Royals patch since this was the final season of the affiliation between the Foxes and Kansas City.

This is a group photo of the Board of Directors for Appleton Baseball, Inc. in 1992:

Goodland Field diagram:

Bonus for the Paging ad!

Here is the mileage chart/footprint for the Midwest League in 1992:

I still haven’t decided if I like the Kenosha Twins logo or if I want to laugh at it derisively.

From 1978 to 1981, the Point Brewery had a different design each year in the Foxes red, white, and blue color scheme. They also had alternate color schemes in 1978 and ’79. There were brown and yellow cans in both years, as well as a green and orange can in 1978. So in total, there are seven different cans. Not sure the reasoning behind the alternate color options, not very attractive if you ask me, but the red, white, and blue ones are pretty cool. Although the cans are not that valuable (they can be found for well under $5 typically), they do make a nice display and conversation piece.

The best can on there is the one from 1980…with the Foxes mascot…As Jay says: Nothing sells beer like a kids mascot on the can.

Pat
Gillick, who built three World Series champions and has served baseball
for nearly 50 years, has been elected to the National Baseball Hall of
Fame by the Expansion Era Committee, it was announced today. …

“We
are thrilled to have Pat as the newest member of the Baseball Hall of
Fame, and we welcome him into the Hall of Fame family,” said Hall of
Fame Chairman of the Board Jane Forbes Clark. “Pat’s consistent
excellence as a talent evaluator and team builder has been evident at
every step throughout his brilliant career, constructing three World
Series champions with his teams making 11 postseason appearances.”

Gillick, who was inducted into the Appleton Professional Baseball Hall of Fame back in 2002, was a major league General Manager for the Toronto Blue Jays, Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, and Philadelphia Phillies. The Blue Jays won a pair of World Series and the Phillies won the 2008 Fall Classic with Gillick as the GM.

In 1960, Gillick was a big-time ‘bonus baby’ for the Orioles out of USC. He was in his second season as a professional when he came to Appleton to pitch for the Fox Cities Foxes.

How good was Gillick?

Here are some excerpts from The Post-Crescent in 1960 about Gillick:

John L. Paustian’s game story after a June 6, 1960 victory over Lincoln: Pat Gillick, an artistic southpaw, starred in a Goodland Field production as he logged the Foxes’ first shutout of the season with a crackling curve and a humming fastball.

Gillick pitched a complete game shutout, allowed seven hits, and struck out 13 in that game.

On August 2, 1960 Gillick was promoted out of the Three-I League. Paustian’s story:

Fox Cities’ Pat Gillick, the leading southpaw pitcher in the Three-I League, has been assigned outright to Vancouver of the Pacific Coast League Foxes and Baltimore officials announced Tuesday. Gillick was due to make his first appearance after his promotion against Salt Lake on Thursday night.

Gillick’s outstanding record here included an 11-2 won-loss record, a 1.91 earned run average, and 135 strikeouts in 132 innings.

Gillick would later be named a Three-I League post-season All-Star.

One final excerpt from the PC in 1960 that should tell you about the off-the-field Pat Gillick. It is from the Time Out with Mike Drew column of September 9:

In a recent letter here from Vancouver (of the Pacific Coast League) former Fox pitcher Pat Gillick reported that “my control is just as good as it was with the Foxes but these triple-A batters won’t bite on my outside pitch as they did in the Three-I.” Pat sent greetings to his Fox Cities friends.

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